1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the field of parachutes. In particular, the invention relates to a closed loop channel for use on a ram-air type parachute.
2. Description of Related Art
Modern ram-air parachutes and parachute container systems are designed to support specialized applications. Military systems, sport skydiver systems for use in making jumps from an airplane, and rapid deployment parachute systems such as those used for BASE jumping all have specific performance requirements.
Parachutes are typically packed in a device referred to as a container. The container consists of a pack tray and a number of container flaps that are folded over the parachute so that grommets on each container flap are aligned. A closing loop is threaded through the grommets on the container flaps. A curved pin is then placed through the closing loop to prevent the container flaps from opening. The curved pin is attached to a bridle that in turn is attached to a pilot chute. When the pilot chute is deployed the force on the pilot chute pulls the bridle, which in turn pulls the curved pin out of the closing loop, releasing the container flaps and allowing the main parachute to deploy.
It is well known in the prior art to mount the closing loop to the pack tray. Such prior art pack tray mounted closing loop systems, however, do not work well in certain applications where it is critical that the parachute deploy extremely quickly, such as in BASE jumping. BASE jumping is parachuting from fixed objects. BASE is an acronym for Building, Antenna, Span, Earth, but there are other objects or “exit points” that do not fit into the four objects. Because there is very little time to deploy the parachute in most BASE jumps, rapid, reliable deployment is critical.
Rapid deployment systems require minimal compression of the parachute. Prior art pack tray mounted closing loop systems require additional folding and compression of the parachute to allow for the closing pin to pass around the parachute. To avoid this problem, in some prior art rapid deployment systems the parachute container uses one or more closing loops that are not attached to the pack tray.